


His Name is Phoenix

by makingitwork



Category: The Social Network (2010)
Genre: Cats, FIx It, Happy Ending, M/M, Post-Deposition, child fic, fuff, single dad eduardo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-27
Updated: 2016-05-27
Packaged: 2018-07-10 13:32:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6987106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makingitwork/pseuds/makingitwork
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One day, Mark is going to make Eduardo an omelette with cheese</p>
            </blockquote>





	His Name is Phoenix

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy!

It's all coincidence, really. 

Mark hasn't thought about Eduardo in months. 

Sure, there's been an Eduardo shaped hole in his life, and he pretty much lives for work, and he doesn't like going home much because it's just a big empty house, and sometimes he itches to go back in time and do everything differently, do everything  _right._

But he'd learnt to master it. He stopped looking at Eduardo's Facebook page, which annoyingly doesn't really change at all, it's almost as if Eduardo has forgotten he even has an account, and things like that make Mark bristle agitatedly. He's stopped trying to analyse Chris and Dustin's body language to try and read whether they've met up with Eduardo or not. He's stopped thinking about how Eduardo would feel nuzzling into his neck on Friday nights as they watched television. He's stopped, because it just hurts too much. 

And then it happens. 

He's in a cab, and California is having one of its record breaking summers again, and the windows are rolled down, and his head is resting against the door, trying to get as much of a breeze as he can in this slow moving traffic. It's annoying. You'd think, on a day like this, most people would be walking to their destination, not blocking the roads with their stupid cars. 

Mark refuses to see the hypocrisy in his thoughts.

And then it happens. 

At 11:30 am on a sunny Tuesday, a white Mercedes convertible pulls up, music blaring, and Mark stares in shock. 

That's Eduardo, grinning, wearing a purple striped shirt, with the top buttons undone, and sleeves rolled up, one arm slung over the car door, the other holding the wheel, blaring Katy Perry from his roofless car, and his hair is the same fluffy, antigravity forcefield that Mark remembers. And there's a child in the back, a little girl, and Mark knows without a shadow of a doubt that she's Eduardo's. She looks, maybe five? And her hair is the same brown as Eduardo's, her skin has the same Brazilian hue, and she's in a white summer dress, and she's singing loudly to the Katy Perry the car is blaring. 

She stands up, and hooks her arms around Eduardo 'Pai!' She giggles, and Eduardo leans his head back and places a sloppy kiss onto her cheek 

'Bella,' he mock frowns 'you should be strapped in with your seatbelt, you promised me. Do I need to get the booster seat?'

'Pai!' She presses their heads together, and then steals his sunglasses, and puts them on and beams at him 'am I pretty?'

'You're stunning. You are the most beautiful girl in the world.' He says honestly, and she beams, and starts singing the Katy Perry, and poking him 

'Sing, Pai! Sing!'

And so Mark watches as Eduardo and his daughter sing Katy Perry in a white convertible, and he knows in his heart that he needs them to fill the ache that he feels whenever he's not plugged in. 

...

...

...

Her name is Isabel Saverin, and she's the result of a drunken mistake, and then the good outcome in a tragedy as the mother died. Mark knows that Eduardo is gay, and he knows the woman is dead, but he still feels jealous. 

They live in California, and it makes Mark wonder how it's taken him this long to see them. He realises dully, that Eduardo looked good, happy. And Mark thinks that maybe he should stop interfering with their life.

But then he's knocking on the door of their large house (it's so easy to get past security gates) and it's nearly midnight.

Isabel opens the door.

She's wearing purple pyjamas, but she looks wide awake. 'Hola,' she smiles at him, and she's got dimples, and Mark thinks he might die if he doesn't get to see her every day. 

'I- um-' he stutters, unused to talking to children. 'Where's Eduardo?'

She doesn't understand, and he grits his teeth, frustrated with himself

'Where's your Pai?'

'He's sleeping. I should be sleeping too, don't tell him!' She whispers with a giggle, and Mark can see Eduardo in her smile, in the twinkle in her eyes. 

'Well, I'll come back tomorrow, then. And you shouldn't open the door to strangers, Isabel.' He tries to pronounce the name correctly and thinks he does an okay job (he has been practising), and she doesn't even look surprised that he knew it. 

'You're not a stranger.' She says, distractedly pulling up her slipper socks 'you're Mark! You're my Pai's best friend, and there's a picture of you in our living room.'

That is...that is...unexpected. 

'Can I come in and see it for a sec?'

She nods, and skips inside, and so Mark takes that as an invitation. 

The house is so Wardo. There are bookcases lining the walls, and it's open plan and there are huge windows, and it looks lived in and cosy, and like home. A cat brushes Mark's ankle, and he jumps a foot in the air. Isabel skips back to him, and scoops the cat up, and presents it to Mark, who meets the cat's eyes. The cat looks bored and unimpressed, but purrs in Isabel's grip. 'This is Phoenix.'

Mark can't help but laugh.

That's so... _Wardo._

'Here,' she says, and points, and mark stares. 

It's a big picture, maybe half the size of a poster, and it's printed onto a gorgeous canvas, and it's a Harvard photo, and it's of Eduardo and Mark grinning at each other, Mark in a grey hoodie, and Eduardo in a Hawaiian shirt, and it's the day they met, and Chris has been testing his new camera. They don't even realise the photo is being taken, and Mark looks at himself, and how happy he was, and knows he needs Eduardo back. 

'Pai says I can't have Facebook until I'm 13, because those are the rules.' She crosses her arms, and looks up at Mark accusingly 'why don't you make it 5?'

Mark's heart throbs. She knows him. She knows his name, and she knows what he does, and she thinks that he's Eduardo's best friend, and Mark doesn't know why Eduardo didn't tell her what a jerk he is, but he's so grateful. He gets onto his knees so he can look into her eyes, and she softens, pressing her nose to his. 

'Don't look sad.' She insists, and she's so  _Wardo._ Everything hurts so much, in a painfully good way, and tears are pricking in his eyes, and she wraps her arms around him, and he hugs her tightly.

There's a creak on the floorboards, and they pull apart to see Eduardo standing there, hair sleep mussed, eyes wide open. And Mark thinks he's going to get thrown out and this will be it, and his life will forever be hollow until-

'Bella,' he breathes, and sags in relief, rushing to her, dropping onto his knees with Mark and cupping her face 'you weren't in bed, and-and the front door's open-' he tugs her into a hug, and his hands are shaking 'don't do that to me again,' he whispers, and he looks so wrecked at the thought of her not being with him. He reaches out one hand for Mark, and Mark stares at it, unsure what he's supposed to do, so he takes it gently, and Eduardo clenches his hand tightly. And yeah okay, Mark can get down with that.

'Mark just came to visit,' she says, her voice muffled by his shoulder. Eduardo pulls back, and turns to Mark, half smiling 

'Hey Mark,' he whispers, his voice rough 'I'll uh- I'll show you where the guest bedroom is? And we can...we can talk over breakfast.'

'Can we have bacon?' Isabel asks, as Eduardo hoists her up onto his hip 

'Sure we can,' he says 'and fried eggs. Right, Mark?'

Mark stares. 'You remembered.' He says quietly, and Eduardo knocks his shoulder 'I don't remember how you like them.'

Eduardo just chuckles good-naturedly 'I only have eggs in omelette form.'

'And you only have omelettes with cheese.' He finishes automatically, and then cringes, wondering whether he should have said that, but Wardo is looking at him, and he's smiling, and his eyes are twinkling, and he looks so happy. And Mark wants to put that look on his face all the time. When he gets to his guest room, Isabel kisses his cheek and whispers 'boa noite,' and Eduardo shoots him a shy smile, and Mark sleeps better than he has in months. 

 

Which explains why he oversleeps. He jerks up out of the ridiculously soft bed, and pads downstairs, but Isabel doesn't seem to be up yet, and Eduardo is only in a shirt and some underwear, and he looks too tempting. 

'Morning,' Eduardo smiles, and adds butter to the frying bacon 'uh...so...I guess we should talk about everything.' He leans against the breakfast bar, and Mark sits down.

'You have a picture of me in your living room.'

Eduardo blushes 'yeah.'

'Why?'

Eduardo sighs 'because I do. Why did you come here in the middle of the night?'

'Because I miss you.' He says, and Eduardo stares in shock 'I miss you, and everything sucks without you, and life just feels like it's hollow, and...and...it doesn't seem worth getting up, some days. And I think about you. Well, I used to- but then it hurt too much. And then I saw you, and I knew that you- you were...' he looks down 'I miss you. And...that other thing.'

Eduardo, thankfully, just smiles softly 'I have that picture, because you're a part of my life, always.' He takes a breath 'so...other thing?'

'You know, the other thing. I do that too.'

Eduardo ducks his head 'do you mean love?' he whispers and Mark nods jerkily 

'I do. So much. And- and Isabel-'

Eduardo's breath hitches, and Mark risks a look up at him. 'What did you call her?' 

Mark swallows thickly 'Isabel,' he says again, emphasising the accent and Eduardo shivers

'come here and kiss me, Mark,'

Mark nearly falls over his stool in his haste, and then they're kissing, and Mark can feel the hole in his heart, the ache, start to recede. 

Eduardo is so soft, so fragile in Mark's hold, and Mark's going to treasure him this time- he's going to do it right- he's not going to break that trust, he's going to love Eduardo as much as he can, and then more than that, because he deserves the world.

'Can I call Mark daddy?' Isabel asks, and they jump apart. She smiles up, and reaches up a hand, and Mark laughs and high-fives her. 

Eduardo rolls his eyes, and can't stop his smile 'Maybe one day. But for now- both of you, set the table, breakfast's almost ready.' 

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt or Comment!  
> x


End file.
